SmallGovCon Weeks In Review: November 20-December 1, 2017

Posted on by

As we step into December, I am looking forward the 2017 National Veterans Small Business Engagement conference next week. The NVSBE is one of my favorite annual government contracting events.  If you’ll be in St. Louis next week, please stop by the Koprince Law LLC booth to say hello.

SmallGovCon Week in Review took a break last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, so today’s edition covers government contracting news and notes from the past two weeks.  In this edition, several companies have protested the GSA’s recent Alliant 2 awards, two whistleblowers receive a big payout after uncovering procurement fraud, GAO bid protests declined in 2017 (while the effectiveness rate of protests went up), and much more.

  • Illegal kickbacks totaling $300,000 from an Afghan subcontractor have resulted in a 21-month prison sentence. [Stars and Stripes]
  • Two whistleblowers get a big payout after they uncovered substantial fraud being committed by a Japanese company against the U.S. military. [Pacific Daily News]
  • According to one commentator, a low-ball bid on a military support contract has led to wage cuts and mass resignations that are devastating National Guard employees. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
  • The number of GAO bid protests declined in Fiscal Year 2017, while the effectiveness rate of protests rose. [Nextgov] (and see my take here).
  • An Army Reserve officer has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $4.4 million for fraudulently supplying hundreds of thousands of Chinese produced baseball caps and backpacks and passing them off as American-made. [Stars and Stripes]
  • Several companies are protesting the Alliant 2 contract awards made earlier this month by the GSA. [Nextgov]
  • Four men have been charged for defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars for falsely presenting themselves as a minority-owned small business over a five-year period. [AlbuquerqueJornal]

Questions about this post? Or need help with a government contracting legal issue? Email us or give us a call at 785-200-8919.

Looking for the latest government contracting legal news? Sign up for our free monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.